Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by KrystalizedKiss
Summary: Gray and Juvia encounter something that would lead them to becoming closer than ever. Gruvia.


**Summary**:  
Gray and Juvia encounter something that would lead them to becoming closer than ever. Gruvia.

**Author's Note**:  
I wanted to write something to dedicate itself to the new ship that I've had as of late. I figured I might as well get into the groove of writing ff by writing something easy right? What was more fun than a new fave otp? Well, wish me luck and let me know how you like this, ne? Note, this is not a spoiler free fic, so please read at your own discretion. And I may or may not continue this, who knows.

I realized that I could've made this a lot longer (or even a novel orz) but—yeah. It just turned into this 'cause I seriously shortened it. I would've developed it better had I have the time. X'D My pace might be awkward but –shrugs-. I JUST WANTED TO WRITE THAT FLUFF. Idk. Maybe I'll write better one shots cause I fail so bad at doing those. X'D hasn'twrittenone-shotsinforevertbh.

**ANYWAY, ENJOY and ignore my rambling**. No one beta-read this for me but yeah...

Total Word Count: 7947

**Disclaimer**:  
Fairy Tail and all related characters and elements are the property, copyright, and trademark of Hiro Mashima and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright, or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to the doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes.

* * *

**Between a Rock And a Hard Place**

At first, the water mage wasn't entirely sure what to make of the assignment that the guild master had given her and why he had particularly set just the two of them off for it. It was expected that when the ice mage would go off on an assignment, he would just end up going with the fire dragon slayer, the celestial mage, and the Titania for their work but somehow, she still ended up being the person to being paired up with the man of her dreams.

Needless to say, she didn't have any complaints, but… this entire mission in general had been giving her the worst feeling ever. Something was telling her that something was going to go wrong, and something was going to make her even sadder than she already did that one time when they fought the dragons after the Grand Magic Games. It didn't help that Juvia Lockser woke up covered in cold sweat on the day of their departure, as if nightmares plagued her during the night, and it didn't help that Gray was—

"Juvia."

The call of her name snapped her from thoughts, glancing over toward the voice, watching as the dark-haired male furrowed a brow in concern toward how distracted she was. "You all right?" he asked.

She nodded, "Juvia is okay... Juvia is just worried about the mission that Makarov gave us. Juvia has a bad feeling about this, Gray-sama."

"Don't worry so much," he said as he returned back to leaning back against the seat of the train that they were in. The cabin that they were in had enough space for the whole group should they have come with, but Makarov stated that Juvia and Gray were all that was needed to handle this. Meanwhile, he had sent the other teams out to investigate some other problems in different parts of the country.

His eyes glanced back over toward her, "Don't worry; Fairy Tail will always make it on top."

Still, she wasn't set at ease. Trying to relax herself, Juvia glanced outside of the window, noting the deep ravine on her side. Ah, so they were going up through the mountains now? She could see the beautiful view of the green forests at the foot of the mountain, admiring the peaceful looking view that the train ride had to offer.

After a while, the peace she managed to erect for herself fell short when the train slowly came to a stop, and outside of their cabin door, the people were running to and fro from something. Alarmed, the pair jumped from their seat and glanced out. Stopping one who was running away, Gray asked, "What's going on? What happened?"

"S-Someone attacked the train and now—"

He never even so much as being able to finish the sentence as a large explosion boomed in the area around them, shaking the train and loosening the man from Gray's grasp as he set off running. Moving forward to slide open the window of the train, he looked around to find the source of the sound only to see an endless shroud of smoke and dust. He could even smell smoke and the bitterness of the cold greeting him.

"Juvia can't see anything, Gray-sama," she tried looking in the other direction of where Gray was looking, finding it difficult to see even passed the few feet in front of them.

Gray couldn't help but feel that they were at a complete disadvantage now, given that their vision is limited, they have no information on who it was that attacked, and why they were attacking this particular train. Biting the inside of his mouth, he began to run toward the door of the train but another explosion blasted the train, knocking the both of them into one another as they crashed into a different cabin. They were teetering on dangerous, the glass beneath them cracking as Gray rose to see the mess.

"Gr-Gray-sama…" Juvia groaned, and he could feel something wet on his shirt and glanced down to see the cut on her forehead. He gripped her shoulder, keeping her still.

"Don't move… We're on glass and if we make too much movement, it'll crack and we'll—"

Another explosion followed and soon enough, they were now free falling through the air while remaining in place of the cabin. Seeing Juvia's horrified expression caused his protective instincts to kick in, moving just enough to wrap his arms around her protectively as they braced themselves.

That was when the train began to crash into the sides of the ravine that Juvia had seen earlier, falling deeper and deeper into the ravine until darkness completely enveloped them. The crash and falling objects that were in the air knocked into both of them as they both fell unconscious, unable to prevent further harm to themselves.

A good long while passed until Juvia stirred. Slowly blinking open her dark sapphire hues, she glanced around and found that it was really hard to see through the murky darkness. The emergency lights were barely flickering on, the power of it scarcely flowing through the train car. In the middle of it all, the first thing that came to her mind was where Gray was. That deep, upsetting feeling came again as she ignored the pain in her legs before realizing that both of them were broken. But her worry for where Gray was overcame what pain she could feel, her eyes frantically looking around for him. "Gr-Gray-sama," she croaked out. When she tried to use her elbows to try to crawl forward, she cried out when she felt her legs were pinned underneath a piece of the train, deeply embedding itself into her thigh. She stifled a sob when she tried moving, finding that she was unable to change into her watery form, as if something had been put over the train to prevent them from using magic.

Where were they? Where was Gray? What happened? How far down did they fall? Why can't she use magic to get herself out of this situation?

Trying to call for him again as she began to cry, she cradled her face in her hands. Despair overwhelmed her as more and more questions just kept forming. When there was no response, she tried again and again…

Elsewhere, Gray finally woke with a groan, the rushing flow of water waking him. Raising himself from where he had been laying, he stood and checked over himself. Aside from a few bruises and cuts here and there, he was—

_Wait_.

Eyes widening in alarm, he glanced around to find that Juvia was nowhere to be found. Immediately, "JUVIA!" he shouted, putting his hands to the side of his mouth to amplify his voice. When he heard no answer, he fought the inner panic and worry that suddenly erupted inside of him that he had for the missing water mage, and began to think about this rationally.

Another perusal of the area around him told him that he had fallen into the ravine, and that he was soaked to the bone of water. Already noting the fact that he seemed to have lost his shirt (again), and that he was fairly in good condition told him that he had been lucky. He stood on a ground of dirt that nearby quickly changed into smooth stone and then quickly changing into jagged rock the further his eyes glanced up toward the sky. There was a hole above him about his palm width in size that told him roughly just how far it was that they had fallen.

It looked like he had been washed down the river when he fell in, seeing as he could not find any of the train nearby, on small bits that may have scrapped or ripped off in the fall as it fell into the water. Ignoring the worry that something might have happened to Juvia, he began to take off in the direction of the river, running for a good long while until slowly, the light in the area began to diminish.

It was then did he make his way did he began to smell blood. He could already hear the anger and distain that Natsu would have in this situation. Hell, even the rest of Fairy Tail would probably be the same.

He didn't need good vision to figure out what it was that happened, especially when he heard in the echo of the ravine of the metallic groan of the train. His eyes having now adjusted to the dim lighting of the chasm, he was able to clearly see that several of the train cars were lodged and stuck in place between both sides of the rocky surfaces. The howl of the wind that blew through whistled through some parts of it, the wreckage only caused his stomach to drop before taking a deep breath to call out for Juvia again. When he didn't hear a reply, his eyes scanned across the fallen to try to spot the vibrant blue hair and to his relief, he didn't see it.

But that would mean…

His onyx hues squinted toward the train car above him. Without waiting for a cue, he made a staircase leading toward the first, lowest train car, making a platform so anyone who survived could venture out here in safety before making it down. Disliking the groaning of the metal as the weight shifted ever so slightly, he made more ice surround the train and hoped that it would keep it stable for a little while.

Squelching once more that feeling of unease, he crouched down toward the only opening he found of the train car of a window that seemed to have been smashed through. Cautiously, he stepped inside, wincing as he heard the entire car groan in protest of the extra weight, but remained still. Tensing, he slowly made his way through the first car. It was excruciating just how quiet it was and how precarious the whole thing was, but he was driven by the need to find and make sure that Juvia was okay.

The first car was surprisingly empty; devoid of the unconscious people that he had expected to be caught in the wreckage. When he made it to the end of the first car and made the nerve-racking jump to the next one, it was when he began to hear the groans and soft whispers of the passengers. Some of them had appeared to be lucky and managed to get out with a few scrapes and others weren't as so. Regretting losing his shirt for it could have helped as extra bandages, he tried to help out whenever he could, telling them of how he had created a platform outside for them to go down and out to the safety of the ground. Some of them nodded and others just continued about working with the wounded.

"You're part of Fairy Tail, aren't ya?" one person asked, approaching the mage.

He nodded and the man continued, "There's a bunch of other train cars still lodged into the crevices above us. Some are riskier to get to since any extra weight would cause the whole thing to collapse."

"And you are?" Gray inquired, raising a brow. His quick perusal of the male before him gave him the impression he was an experienced fighter of some kind, his plain, black t-shirt and jeans said so. What also gave him question was the worried hint in his eyes.

"Lon," he answered. "I only know this because one of my friends tried to go up further to see if there were any more survivors and bring them all here. She came back and told me, saying of how there are a lot of people still stuck inside the cars above us and around us. She went back to try and see if she could save a few, but…" he shook his head sadly now, "she never came back and it's been a few hours since she's left."

The situation was more dangerous than he had originally assumed. All of the train cars appeared to be stuck between the two rocky surfaces of the ravine and all the train cars were stuck in certain ways that should anything on the inside do something wrong, the whole thing would be sent plummeting down.

Gray growled in his throat, not liking the situation and still, there was no word on Juvia. "Has your friend seen a woman with bright blue hair?"

Lon appeared to try to recall his friend's words, before shaking his head. "No, I don't think he's made any mention of your friend. Is she also a member of Fairy Tail?"

When Gray nodded again, the male continued, "No, we would remember another of Fairy Tail helping us out but you're the first."

He sighed, aggravated as he ran a hand through his hair. That meant that Juvia was stuck somewhere and he had no idea where to even begin in finding her except to continue going up. Making his way through the group of people, he made his way to the open window on the other side, discovering that the next car was lodged between the two rock faces as well, however; it was the one weighing heavily on the car he was currently on, this one frighteningly looking as if it was on the brink of falling.

How did that guy's friend—

That was when his eyes wandered up and only saw the true horror of the whole thing. Train car after train car were all wedged between the either sides of the chasm, some more so than others while two in particular seemed to be swinging off of one that had found a ledge and just remained stuck there when the other side began to fall back and hit the face.

He groaned. Juvia was in one of those things? He hoped and wished hard that she wasn't in the ones that were… almost quiet literally hanging by a thread of another train.

* * *

Juvia's cries eventually stopped, her determination to see Gray overwhelming everything else. She glanced back at her legs, and knew that if she tried to force her leg out; she would destroy what would be her legs and knew that was a risk that she couldn't take. To cause that kind of injury would only cause her to bleed out and—and she didn't want to die, not yet.

Now that her hysteria had passed and she was able to calm herself, she glanced around again, her eyes now adjusted to the dim room. She tried to use her magic again to change herself into a watery form but still, it was to no avail. It was as if something has sealed her off from using her magic and prevented her from using it at all. "Wh-What w-would Gray-sama d-do in this situation," she mumbled, trying to choke back another round of tears that threatened to break free from the movement of her leg.

It was frightening that she couldn't feel her legs, at least, a part of them and it was almost worse when she realized that no one knew that she was here. How did she and Gray separate? She didn't know.

The sound of metal scraping and the stillness that came after as the metal groaned from the shift caused Juvia to stiffen. She could even feel her heart stop, worried that the train might continue to fall.

That was when a girl, about the size of Wendy, appeared. Juvia blinked, wondering where it was that she came from and how did she even get here. Her voice had been hoarse from calling out so much, hoping that someone, anyone would hear her, but no one had returned her calls. So… who was this girl?

She had snow-white hair that was as long as Erza's with one singular streak of some kind of blue down her right side. She wore a tattered looking t-shirt with barely enough length to hide the breasts while revealing a toned abdomen underneath. Since it was dark, it was difficult for Juvia to decipher any other details aside from the fact she wore jeans that sat on her hips and black boots to her mid-shin. On her arms and face were bandages, covering parts where she had probably been injured.

"So there was a survivor up here," she murmured, cautiously making her way through the wreckage until she was by her side. "Are you all right?" Her voice was soft, as if not trying to be loud as to avoid disturbing the stillness around them.

Juvia nodded, finding the urge to cry was beyond what she felt before. If this girl could help her out, she would be so relieved and it would enable her to see Gray again!

"Oh dear, you're stuck in there quite—" She paused, kneeling down beside Juvia to take a look at the depth of her injuries."—quite a ways…" It sounded like she was frowning and sad.

"Can you help Juvia?" She found speaking hurt her throat since it had gotten so raw from trying to call for help.

The girl seemed thoughtful before reaching into her pocket and pulling out what appeared to be a small pill. "This should help with the pain a little." Helping her swallow, the girl waited until she finished before bandaging what exposed injuries she had. When she finished, she started to head back down. "I'll have to be right back—I have no magic here so I can't help you right now. I'll go get help, okay?"

Juvia reached out for her while rasping, "D-Don't leave…!"

The girl paused, turning enough to see a sad smile on her face, "I have to, Juvia… Else, I won't be able to help you." Then she disappeared behind the metal walls, leaving Juvia alone while she waited for the medicine to kick in.

* * *

Gray had finally managed to make it to the near top, one of the more rigidly stuck train cars. Here, they also seemed to have made it as a place for them to recover. But with no way of finding them help, they would be stuck here without proper medical help. He growled, barely keeping his anger from exploding. Why did someone do this to innocent bystanders? Why did they attack a train full of innocent civilians that had no reason to get involved in something so dangerous? Once he found out who it was behind all of this, he was going to—going to—

He didn't know, all he knew was that he was going to give them an ass-kicking, they won't know who they are anymore. And what was more, as time went on, and the continuous lack of information was making Gray more and more anxious.

Where was Juvia? Was she okay?

He didn't know how well she was faring and he felt sick not knowing how she was doing or if she was even—

He shook his head, not wanting to think about it before making his way through and climbed to the top of the train car. A strong gust of wind blew by, knocking him down as it threatened to knock him overboard. Gripping down on the train car, he glanced to the last remaining few he had yet to look. He had yet to encounter this friend of Lon's, none of them recognizing the name or the description of the girl that Lon had told him of. Along the walls, he noticed how—

Again, his eyes widened before he peered down the side, noticing how there was a train car that had fallen down to the bottom. He groaned, now understanding why this friend of his hadn't been back—she was stuck in the ones at the top. He scratched his head in deep thought, before sighing and braced himself to take the stance of his ice-making.

Only… he couldn't.

At first, he was in denial and tried again and again in attempt to summon his ice-make, but it failed each and every single time. With nowhere to vent out his frustrations of anger, Gray simply sat down and enveloped his face in his hands while he sat cross-legged. _This was ridiculous_! He thought, now thoroughly irritated at the new development.

Moving so that his fingers criss-crossed over the other, he rested it against his chin while he thought about how to go about this next. If he tried climbing up, the gust of wind would surely blow him off and he would be sent sprawling at the bottom. While he knew he could very well survive the fall, he didn't want to push it passed the way things have turned out and would rather not risk it. This was worse than when he had been turned into a kid, quite honestly, because at least then he still had his magic. Again, another sigh before he decided he would risk the climb. He needed to find out if Juvia was all right and to find this Lon's friend.

* * *

The girl came back and Juvia felt the glimmer of hope trickle in even more. When she had first appeared, she felt elated that someone had come at all, thinking that all hope had been lost when her voice did not reach anyone. But when she left again, she was left grasping for whatever strands of hope to come back her way, relieved that the pill that the girl had given her was beyond remarkable and had worked amazing wonders at relieving her pain. She could still feel her leg throbbing at the point where she had been stuck, but everywhere else just simply hurt less.

"Juvia, was it?" The girl set down beside her what appeared to be a metallic pole.

Juvia nodded. When she was about to open to ask some questions about their situation, the girl silenced her by pressing a finger to her lips.

"No, no more talking." Again, her voice was just as quiet and soothing as it was before. "You may have the effects of the pill, but when your throat is that raw, you might destroy your voice if you keep talking." Carefully, she set down the pole and slid it underneath toward where the metal was wedged into Juvia's leg. "Keep listening to me okay? Just keep listening to me talk."

Once Juvia gave her confirmation, the girl seemed hesitant to begin with what she had intended. Noticing that Juvia was staring at her, a small smile appeared.

"I'm Lily," she began, turning toward the task at hand. From the look on the girl's face, Juvia knew that the both of them weren't going to like this. "And I'm sorry."

Without any warning, the girl put all of her weight into the pole and Juvia screamed.

* * *

He had _finally_ made it to the train car, cautious as all hell at how the car gently swung thanks to the wind that constantly blew around it. Climbing by the means of the doors to each of the cabins, he found that all of the cabins here were deserted and devoid of anyone in them. Not wanting to think about what it meant, he kept climbing until—

A scream shook the area around them, causing him to still before hastening his movements.

It was a voice he'd recognize anywhere and knew that it meant she was alive, but at what cost?

He moved through the next train car until he finally made it to where Juvia was, lying in a pool of blood with a girl looking on the brink of breaking into tears as she tried to attend to Juvia's—

"Juvia!" he shouted, approaching them as he knelt down, gently picking her up in his arms as he assessed the extent of her injuries. Oh shit.

She had been tended to, yes, but she had injuries on her head, her arms, and her… her legs. The girl had appeared to have stripped off her shirt and used it as a bandage, leaving her to be garbed only in a small, short tank. But there was… there was so much _blood_.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl exclaimed suddenly. "I tried to save her and she was pinned underneath that—" she pointed to the place where Juvia had been moments ago, "—And… And I had to help her! B-But it meant—"

"It's fine," Gray cut in roughly. If only his magic worked then he could ice over her blood and cause it to stop bleeding. If only he had come sooner, if only he knew where she was, if only he had his magic… there were endless "if only's" that flowed through his head at that point, waiting, almost willing Juvia to waken to give him that smile of hers again. She was so cold, colder than he was even and she was so pale, so frail looking that he fought back the tears. He didn't want to lose more people and Juvia was certainly among the few that he never wanted to lose.

Holding her close, as if his body heat would warm her, his hand enveloped hers and waited for her to waken. The girl nearby just sat there since there was nowhere else to go. Her hands were covered in Juvia's blood and she seemed to be staring blankly off into space. Since the male that had arrived appeared to have been absorbed in Juvia's safety, she slowly stood and was about to walk back down to the other car.

"Wait."

She stilled, not turning to face the pair. But she didn't say anything either to the ice mage.

"Thanks."

It was terse and raw and… She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from crying. Without her magic, there was nothing she could do and the thanks felt as emotional as she felt.

The steps faded as she left, leaving Gray with Juvia while she began to stir awake.

"… Gr-Gray… s-sama?" Her voice was hoarse, rough, and so quiet, one could barely hear it. But he was right by her and knew the way her lips formed his name.

"I'm right here Juvia," he whispered, squeezing her hand.

Juvia had no energy within herself to feel more than what she already did. Her heart was already slow from the blood loss, not wanting to risk more loss as almost all of her body functions were slowing down. But, she was so, _so_ happy that she was in his arms. He was as strong as she had imagined, he was as broad-muscled as she had expected, and he was as _warm_ as she had expected, if not more.

She smiled, and tried to squeeze his hand back, but the only thing that registered to him was the slightest shift in her fingers. "J… Juvia will be okay."

"Shh, don't talk… save your strength—" Gray choked, realizing that the words he was saying sounded an awful lot like the corny movies where the character was…

"Happy," she whispered, nuzzling against him with what little energy she had.

He adjusted her so that she would be able to do so. "You're going to be okay, right Juvia? You're going to live through this and—and—"

Having no choice, she had to use as little of her voice as possible. "Gray."

He stilled, not used to his name being used in that matter without the honorific. He felt her hand struggle within his and let go of it as she moved it to rest against his cheek and then she smiled. "Juvia… will… be… okay," her words were broken and took every piece of strength she had. "Juvia… believes Gray-s-sama… will save Juvia."

He nodded, not wanting to dare speak. When has she ever looked so pale? When has she ever looked so… so…

"I'm going to move you okay?" He waited for her to nod and careful not to brush his arm against her bandaged injury, he carried her in his arms as he made his way out of the train car, now steeling himself with determination to make sure that he would get Juvia out of here.

He spotted the girl moments later, perched sitting on the edge of their train car.

"She's… _that_ precious to you, hm?" It sounded as if she was saying the thought aloud to herself before her eyes darted toward him.

Gray was about to answer that of course she is, when he stopped, his mouth open before he closed it. Was she as precious as any other nakama that he had? Sure, despite his anger and irritation toward Natsu, he was a precious friend, but he wasn't perhaps in the way that Juvia was… was she? Even Erza—she was precious to him as both a friend and an ally. So what was he to say? And the way that the girl had said it made him think about exactly how important Juvia was to him. She— she was…

"I'm sorry," she began, cutting him off from thinking on it further. "This whole train wreck was probably my fault."

He froze, squeezing ever so slightly in his hands as they clenched tight at those icy wash of words. His gaze narrowed toward her.

She laughed suddenly, sounding hollow and bitter. "I had meant the mission to be sent to Fairy Tail but—" She pulled out from her back pocket, folded up into little pieces before opening it. "But this was torn down from all the guilds without me realizing it. So I never even got the chance to even ask for anyone's help."

Gray paused, his eyes glancing over the mission paper before turning his head back to face her. He remembered that sheet: it had said something about just the simple mission of bodyguard and protect mission, but it had been removed before he even got the opportunity to really look at it.

But still, his raw emotions from seeing Juvia in this state had left him in a place that was difficult to describe. It gave him a challenging time of trying to sympathize with her and to try to think about this logically.

She didn't give him the chance to respond as she stood beside him, righting herself as she continued, "Juvia will be okay—I made sure of that. But now, I'm sure that those men are still searching for me and I'm sure Lon is worried as all hell for me."

Finally, the logic began to kick in, barely managing to shove those emotional feelings he had for both Juvia and the situation she was in. "Why the hell are they after you?"

She seemed pensive, staring off toward the end of the ravine. "I can't show you, but you'll probably know soon enough."

An explosion boomed nearby, destroying the ravine a bit of ways down. "Here they come! Hurry, let's find a way down." Gray didn't need to be asked twice as he adjusted Juvia in his arms so that he could still carry her without worrying about further bothering her injury in her leg.

They barely managed to make it down to the swinging car, both of them frantic of trying to find a way to the other car without the risk of climbing back down. That was when he thought of something and instantly hated it.

"We'll have to jump."

"What?!" Her eyes widened as she sharply turned to him, alarmed.

Another explosion was heard, this time, it was getting closer.

"We'll have to jump to the other car. It's stable enough to withstand the wind and it's strong enough that even the weight of people jumping onto it shouldn't faze it."

"But th-there are people in there! Wh-What if your plan doesn't work?"

"It will."

She frowned before biting her lip as another explosion shook the car. An aggravated sigh was heard and then she pouted, "Fine. We'll do it your way."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

Ignoring his words, she said, "How about I carry Juvia and you catch us?"

"Idiot~" he sang, "No, I'll be jumping—"

"Hnnn…?"

_Oh what luck_, Gray thought inwardly.

"Juvia!" the girl cried just as another explosion boomed even closer, this time, the entire car shook and the metal groaned again.

"Fuck it; we're jumping, NOW!" He pushed off of the car and the girl quickly followed after just as another explosion shook the entire area, this time, the train cars whined loudly in protest from the disturbance, the metal began to scrap down as it slid down the surface of the rock face. As it fell to the bottom below, Gray barely landed on the train car, his calculations for it overshot since the gust of wind blew stronger now that there was more wind being pushed through the ravine thanks to the explosions. His hand barely managed to catch onto the top of the train car and was about to slide right off when the girl caught his hand just as he couldn't hold on.

"AAAAHHHHHHGGGHHH!" she shouted, using all of her strength to pull him toward the safety of the car. But he could see her sliding and could only watch helplessly.

Just when he thought all hope was lost, Lon appeared suddenly and grabbed Gray's forearm and pulled him to the safety of the top of the car as the wind began to die down.

"Man, you are a lifesaver!" Gray said, exasperated as he tried to catch his breath. If only he could have used his magic—

"I saw that Lily was in trouble and had to come help." He crouched beside Gray before lifting himself to head over toward where the girl was sitting. "I'm glad you found her—I was worried of where she went off to." Determining that information regarding Lily and Lon's information, he wanted to make sure that Juvia was okay. He sat Juvia down as she glanced about her, her hands clinging and grasping for Gray's pants.

Crouching in front of her, he raised a hand and little uncharacteristic of him, used the back of his hand to stroke her cheek. "You okay, Juvia?"

She nodded. She still seemed tired and having a difficult time breathing, but she seemed better than she had been where there was barely any life in her. "Gr-Gray-sama… I—"

The explosions finally stopped and there, in front of them stood a person on what he could only assume to be of use of—

A smirk as he realized that whatever it was that had been used moments ago no longer applied and he could now use magic.

"So you guys managed to survive the fall, huh?" he drawled, his eyes scanning over the remainder of the train cars. That was when Gray realized that the attacker wasn't looking at Gray or Juvia but was rather at Lily and Lon.

Lily stood on her feet, facing him with a sneer, "Of course we did, _asshole_."

"And here I thought you would've died."

"You involved innocents in your attack! Why couldn't you have done it without the others involved?"

"I don't care," he giggled with a maniacal grin. "I just want you dead."

"Over my dead body," Lon stated, standing protectively in front of the girl.

"Oi, oi!" Gray called out, catching the rather brittle looking male on his rather curious magic. (It reminded him of the first mission that Natsu did with him back when that guy simply used wind magic to make him fly. If that's the case then…) "You're messing with our clients, and if you're messing with our clients, you're messing with Fairy Tail."

"I don't care about you," he scoffed, waving Gray off.

So he was the one that got them involved in such a horrific crash? That those innocent people below him and Juvia had to suffer through? Anger bubbled beneath and washed him anew at how he was going to beat this guy to a pulp.

Juvia turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Since the seal was lifted, I'll heal your legs, okay? That's all I can do, but please… take care of yourself; I'm not the best healer." Juvia felt the ache of her legs come back and the pain being lowered to almost nothing. "It'll… come back after a while, okay? My magic isn't permanent."

Juvia nodded, understanding that it was just temporary and when she finished healing, Juvia stood. When Gray noticed, he blinked in surprise before she gestured toward Lily. A small glance told him everything he needed to know and decided to pay more attention to the battle at hand. "Water Slicer!" she shouted, immediately summoning forth blades of water the came from her hands. As if knowing that Juvia was going to attack, Gray took his stance.

"Ice Make: Ice Cannon!" A large, bazooka-like cannon formed in his hand and shot off rounds of ice toward the opponent, catching him off-guard. When the smoke cleared from the impact of ice, the man appeared to have suffered some amount of damage.

Before he could even react, Gray launched himself off with Juvia, "Ice Make: Saucer!" A large spinning disk was launched toward the man without so much as a response from the opponent just as Juvia continued with, "Water Cane!" Her arm turning into that of a whip as it sliced through where he stood afloat.

A blast of wind blew them back, Lily and Lon barely moving fast enough to catch them from falling off. Their opponent cackled, "You think that's enough to get me? HA, I think not." Holding his hand up, a large energy ball was formed as he threw it at them, at which Lon moved to block it, turning it quickly into dust.

Not wanting to question the moment, Gray and Juvia moved in. This continued for a good while until both Gray and Juvia were battered down, while Lon had to protect Lily from behind, where the leader's lackeys appeared to be attacking from behind. Panting and tired, Gray glanced toward Juvia, wondering what would be the full extent of her injuries once Lily's magic wore off. Noticing that he was staring, Juvia smiled, "Don't worry, Gray-sama. All will be okay and Juvia will be fine again. Juvia believes in us that we will win, right?"

He smiled, chuckling as they both rose, exhausted from use of magic. "Of course; Fairy Tail always comes out on top." Placing a hand on her shoulder, Juvia glanced up shyly toward Gray as he smiled confidently toward her. Their fingers interlocked and they both shouted as they stared ahead toward their attacker, "Unison Raid!"

An explosion of water and ice magic flooded the area around them, destroying whatever was left of their opponents and thus, completing their mission just as the Council and their forces came to check on what had happened.

* * *

Lily came clean, telling them of how she bore the seal to one of the great secret magics of her people: reversal healing. It was generally a whispered story of how one could reverse time on one's physical body, getting rid of old age, disease and other things that would destroy the body over time. It was essentially like the fountain of youth, only, it was sealed inside the girl and she had the magic to do it. She continued explaining more things about it, stating how it wasn't permanent, yet, people still came after her for it. Thanking them for helping Lily and Lon, Lily rewarded them with a hefty reward of 100,000 jewels. She had said that it was the least that she could do, seeing as how they went through so much trouble for her sake.

Juvia eventually lost the magic of the healing that Lily had given her, her injuries coming back in full force and maybe a little more so since the battle.

Now with both of them in the care of being nursed back to health at the Guild, Gray paid Juvia a visit after the surgeries and others had been successful. Wendy had been working hard at making sure that Juvia was all healed up and now stated that all she needed now was rest.

He stepped into the room, noting the quiet of the room wasn't anything near the deathly silence of the creaking train cars. Sitting down beside Juvia's bed of where she slept, he placed the flowers he had picked up in the vase next to her, noticing how it was already filled.

He mused quietly of how Lucy probably had already come to visit. An assortment of all kinds of gifts were littered around her: a dead fish (Happy), a messily written card (Natsu), the bouquet and a book (Lucy), a cake (Erza), a cute looking bear (probably Gajeel, with the help of Levy), and Gray could go on, but the gifts were all filled with the love from the guild members.

It just… left the question that he had begun to ask earlier in their adventures.

Two days had passed since their little fight and Juvia was almost fully recovered. Two broken legs and a messed up muscle in the leg was quite a feat to heal and it had taken Wendy out of it for a while there. Otherwise, excluding the few bandages that remained, she was all healed.

Watching her happy, peaceful sleeping expression, Gray began to think about what had happened. He had thought he was going to lose Juvia, given how much blood she had lost, and had even… uttered those words that—He shook his head.

It didn't happen and she was safe and alive—that was all that mattered.

Nevertheless, his question remained unanswered.

She stirred from her sleep, blinking open her eyes before jolting upright as she grabbed for the blankets to hold them close to her chest as her cheeks darkened, "Gr-Gray-sama! I-I didn't know y-you—?!"

He chuckled as he leaned forward on the chair, resting his elbows on his knees, "I just came to see how you were doing. How are you?"

Lowering the blanket slightly, Juvia smiled brightly, "Juvia is doing wonderfully! Wendy has been healing Juvia whenever she is able." But when she noticed the rather somber expression despite the earlier chuckle, she reached out to touch his shoulder. "Juvia is okay, Gray-sama… Juvia won't die yet and quite so soon."

"I—" Gray glanced up toward her, reaching for her hand as he moved forward some more to rest his arms on her bed. "If only I hadn't—"

"It's not your fault, Gray-sama… We didn't know."

After a short bit of silence, he asked if she was able to take a walk. With a nod, she said to give her a moment to change before meeting him behind the guild. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked when she stumbled.

"Juvia is fine!" She appeared to have pumped herself up before putting her hands behind her back. "Now what is that Gray-sama wanted to talk about?"

"Uh…" He didn't know how to start. How does one ask why one person liked another person? How does one even realize that one liked another person? It reminded him, and rather quite distastefully, of Lyon who had fallen in love with Juvia at first sight. He sighed, "I… Er… well, why do you like me, Juvia?"

She instantly flushed, before turning and running forward. "O-Oi!" he called out, running after her.

Juvia didn't know how to tell him the overwhelming feelings she had for him, and how she just wanted to stay by his side forever. It was a dream that she wanted ever since she had laid eyes on him, and will never forget. After all, he had very well simply just…

Without paying attention, she felt her wrist being grasped by the very man she had been running from. "Oi… don't just run like that when—" His face changed into something awkward as he averted his gaze, "—when I asked you something."

Her face was still insanely red as she appeared to prepare herself. She glanced shyly up toward him before averting it again. "D-Don't… laugh, okay?"

"Do I look like I would?"

She pouted.

"Fine, I won't," he waved his hands up in the air before it settled in his pockets.

She glanced toward him again, his face expectant as he waited with the slight tint of a pink in his cheeks. Juvia looked at her hands as they played with a strand on her dress. "Gr-Gray-sama… It… It had been originally because I-I thought you to be—" she didn't say anything as she squeezed her eyes shut before taking a deep breath and continuing, "—But during Juvia's time at Fairy Tail and the adventures we continued to have, Juvia began to fall in love with everything that is Gray-sama and well… Gr-Gray-sama is precious to Juvia and… Juvia loves Gray-sama because of who he is and who he is as a whole."

For a moment, Gray didn't answer, his face too red in embarrassment from the words that she had said. Bringing a hand to his face to cover his mouth as he averted his gaze to the side, he understood what it was he was feeling back then and now; he didn't know what to do. She was so innocent and more pure than he had expected, he didn't know what he was going to do or rather, what he is going to do with all of this.

Stalking off away from Juvia, she called out after him and followed on behind him as she waited. "Gray-sama?"

She needed to stop. With this newfound understanding of his feelings and hers, he only continued to keep walking, walking faster and faster as if trying to run away from it.

Juvia kept running after him, wanting to know what was wrong with Gray before he suddenly stopped, and forcing her to crash into him as they fell to the ground. Using one hand to touch her head and make sure her hat was still on; she shifted in her spot to look toward him. "Gray-sama… why'd you—"

Her breathing stopped. She was on top of Gray and his face was still as red as a cherry. He couldn't seem to look her in the eye as he gripped both sides of her arms, "Stop calling me 'Gray-sama', all right? I'm just Gray!"

She blinked, unsure of where his train of thought was going, "Gray… s-sama?" she whispered meekly.

"I just…" he closed his eyes, exhausted as he sighed. For a moment he didn't move as he seemed to think silently before reopening his eyes, one hand running through his hair in a manner that resembled frustration. "I'm just… because god fucking _damn_ it, I—" Sitting up so that she now sat between his legs, he placed his hands around her hips and tugged her close. Interlinking his fingers so that she couldn't move, he placed his forehead on hers, knocking her hat gently back as he uttered in a low tone with a smile, "I'm just… probably in as much love with you as you are with me."

Juvia felt her heart swell as she giggled and cried in happiness, raising her hands to her mouth as he pulled her even closer. The moment she removed her hands to say something in return, he simply just leaned in and kissed her.

* * *

Thanks for reading! :3 And please, any reviews are so welcome! I'd love to know if I should write more gruvia fics! ^o^


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